Get these and many more award-winning data visualisation
and analysis products as part of the Studio
FX Subscription!

The Studio FX Subscription offers unprecedented access
to the entire line of Software FX data visualisation
products for developers, including .NET, Java, COM,
SharePoint and Mobility for one low price.

What's new in Chart FX 8?

Chart FX 8 was built on top of Chart FX 7, taking advantages
of all its implementations and at the same time improving
by the addition of new features.

Passing and Analysing Data

The most noticeable improvement of Chart FX 8 are
its data analysis features. Grouping, sorting, filtering
and pivoting are built right in. Developers have many different
options to take advantage of this API, while end users can
access them right at the toolbar. Also, LINQ is now supported
(added to the many different ways of passing data to the
chart).

Simple statistical features are also built in. Average and
Linear Regression lines (for example) can be added to any
series both via API and UI (at run time).

This iteration of Chart FX also introduces the concept of "Selection".
Selecting a point can be used to bring attention to it as
well as drilling down for more information.

Performance Improvements

A faster and more responsive chart can be obtained
with Chart FX 8 Our 20 years of experience in the data visualisation
industry has taught us how to be very efficient handling
the demands of different industries when it comes to displaying
data. From large volume of points to fast refreshing charts,
Chart FX 8 outperforms its predecessor in many ways. Fast
paint has been implemented so the chart does not waste time
painting irrelevant details.

Enhanced Tooltips

Tooltips are now much more customisable. And this goes beyond
rich text and parameters: you can now set a Control as the
tooltip. Having a Control as the tooltip allows for unlimited
flexibility, including using other charts (or data visualisation
tools) for drill down. Data for the tooltips can also come
from data fields that would otherwise not be visible on
the chart, such as image data fields.

Intuitive and Improved UI

The UI has been completely rebuilt on this version of Chart
FX. Menus are more intuitive, the end user has more control,
there are no longer differences in the set of features between
winforms and webforms. Helpful floating bars now show up,
in a very unintrusive way, when the user hovers over areas
of interest. New palettes (in addition to the old ones)
are also available. Gridlines and Sections can now be redifined
at run time by dragging and dropping.

Undo/Redo

Given all the customisation and modification that can be
done to the chart at run time, it is only logic to allow
for a undo/redo action. They can be accessed by API and
at the toolbar (run time).

Web Improvements

Through embedded SVG, Chart FX 8 now supports HTML 5. Callbacks
are now faster and less wasteful. A robust server and serialisation
infrastructures were added. A more secure file handed was
put in place. Better logs (for error reporting) and config
file are available.

And Much More

Markers are now possible on bar charts. Curve-Area charts
now support initial values. Pie charts now benefit from
a smarter label margin calculator. Scale breaks can be added
to axis. A new Funnel gallery has been added. Scrolling
on connected charts is improved. Many other features can
be found on the following pages of this guide.

Why Chart FX?
Besides a powerful charting engine supporting the most complete
collection of chart types, you may also want to consider Chart
FX for its following attributes:

Multiplatform
Chart FX is the only charting and data visualisation product
capable of delivering native components for the most popular
development platforms, including .NET, Java, COM (ASP &
ActiveX), HTML5, iOS, SharePoint and Windows PowerShell. Chart
FX shares the same charting engine and API across all these
platforms allowing developers to easily migrate their applications
without the need to retrain or sacrifice the look and feel of
the final product. This multiplatform capability is important
considering the diverse and heterogeneous nature of IT infrastructures
in the modern enterprise.

ExtensibilityWhile some charting solutions are monolithical, slow
and unreliable, Chart FX features a powerful extensibility mechanism.
These Chart FX Extensions can be stitched together, allowing
developers to quickly adapt to data sources enabling organisations
to quickly and economically have access to specialised solutions
that meet unique business needs. Chart FX Extensions are entire
products targeting specific functionality while meeting the
needs of specific markets. For example, adding interactive maps
or vectorised images to your applications is as easy as integrating
Chart FX Maps.

End User ExperienceAlthough Chart FX is a development product, it provides
many runtime and end user features as well. The Chart FX end
user interface significantly increases end users ability to
analyse data. For example, end users can access most Chart FX
functionality by clicking chart elements or using toolbars and
menus on demand. Also, through royalty free runtime components
your users can export or reuse charts in most popular productivity
applications, such as Microsoft Office.

Scalability & PerformanceIntegrating a charting solution to your application or
web server could pose crucial server performance, scalability
and security issues. Actually, many developers don’t become
conscious this until they do real-life stress testing and unveil
serious performance and scalability issues that may jeopardise
a successful or timely deployment of the final application.
You will learn, Chart FX has been designed to work in intricate
server architectures and you can expect a substantial increase
in your Web server's throughput, commonly measured in requests
per second and avoid security issues associated with generating
and storing server side charts.

Elegant and professional presentation layerMany vendors have focused on using the OS drawing capabilities
to "beautify" or "animate" the charts, in
most cases these drawing abuses not only have serious implications
in server performance and scalability but also result in chart
caricatures or mockeries that make your application look amateurish
and provide little or no additional analysis capabilities to
end users. Instead, Chart FX offers developers the ability to
quickly and easily integrate impressive charts into their applications
while retaining blazing speed and performance, making Chart
FX the perfect data visualisation solution for your application.

Seamless integration and Object-oriented
APIChart FX seamlessly integrates to the most popular development
tools like Microsoft’s Visual Studio, Visual Basic and Embarcadero Delphi, among others. Additionally, The Chart FX API is consistent
throughout the different Chart FX versions, making it easier
and more accessible to create and maintain applications.

Code-generation assistantsChart FX features Wizards and Designers that help you
achieve the most stunning charts and at the same time quickly
access the code-behind and learn most of the interesting features
Chart FX has to offer.

Unparallel Technical SupportWhen in need, you can quickly search the Software FX
integrated and centralised Resource Center or Support Site (http://support.softwarefx.com)
for tutorials and samples.

Chart FX Platforms

Visual Studio

Visual Studio stands today as the de-facto IDE standard for
.NET developers. For over 15 years, Software FX has specialised
in enterprise-grade data visualisation solutions. Regardless
of the Visual Studio version you are using, you can be assured
that Software FX has the right data visualisation product for
your development needs!
Products Available:Chart FX 8: Visual Studio 2010 +
Chart FX 7: Visual Studio 2005 +
Chart FX for .NET: Visual Studio .NET (2003)

JAVA

Chart FX for Java has for many years been the leader in Data Visualization components for Java server applications. Chart FX 8 for Java Server now gives all the power of Chart FX to Server application developers in both NetBeans and all Eclipse-Based IDEs.
Products Available:Chart FX 8 for Java Server
Chart FX 7 for Java Desktop
Chart FX 7 for Java Server
Chart FX 6.5 for Java Server

HTML5

jChartFX is a set of Javascript libraries providing a powerful
collection of charts and graphs for professional and serious
business data visualisation and analysis, leveraging HTML5,
CSS and SVG capabilities in today’s browsers to deliver aesthetically
superior charts and a richer end user experience.
Products Available:jChartFX

Get these and many more award-winning data visualisation
and analysis products as part of the Studio
FX Subscription!
The Studio FX Subscription offers unprecedented access to the
entire line of Software FX data visualisation products for developers,
including .NET, Java, COM, SharePoint and Mobility for one low
price.